Thessaloniki Grand Prix Round 4

After four rounds of the FIDE Thessaloniki Grand Prix, there are no fewer than 7 players "leading" on 2½ points. It seems that no-one is able to impose their authority on the rest of the field.

After yesterday's tragic loss on time, Vassily Ivanchuk was a shadow of his true self today against Veselin Topalov. Ivanchuk's choice of 17...Qc5 was punished ruthlessly with 18.e7! by the Bulgarian, and Ivanchuk offered his hand in resignation after just 21 moves.

The other decisive game of the day came in the encounter between Leinier Dominguez and Peter Svidler. Minor pieces were quickly exchanged in a Ruy Lopez to leave a queen and rook ending, and when Dominguez pushed his f-pawn to f5 and later f6, black's king had nowhere left to hide.

The fourth Grand Prix of the 2012/13 series runs from 21 May - 4 June in Thessaloniki, Greece. The full pairings are available here.

The overall winner and runner-up of the 2012/13 Grand Prix series will qualify for the next Candidates Tournament, expected to be held in March 2014. The first three events were held in London, Tashkent and Zug. The current standings are shown here.

Each tournament is a single round-robin featuring 12 out of the 18 players in the Grand Prix, and each player competes in four of the six events. The best 3 scores of each player count towards their overall score. The official regulations for the 2012/13 FIDE Grand Prix can be found here.

All rounds start at 14:00 local time (11:00 UTC) except the final round which starts 2 hours earlier. The time control used is 40 moves in 2 hours, followed by 20 moves in 1 hour, then 15 minutes plus a 30 second increment after move 60.